A couple of years ago when I started blogging, I started a
blog called Encounters in East Africa
to write about some of the exciting little things that we encounter while
training guides and on safari. This blog quickly got overwhelmed by another one
called Safari Ecology and in all
honestly I couldn’t find the time needed to write for three blogs.

Having just spent another 4 weeks with guides in Tarangire
National Park, I thought I’d share some of those little things on my adventure
blog. Tarangire ranks very high on my list of favorite parks and often I’m
asked why I don’t prefer Serengeti for guide training. Of course I’ve been
coming here since my first word “dudu” (Swahili for insect) meant any animal
including elephants. It’s a classic Acacia savannah habitat and has amazing
diversity. It also epitomizes why East Africa is such a unique destination.

A beautiful animal- the Fringe-eared Oryx. The population has declined by over 90% in the Tarangire ecosystem.

When it rains in East Africa, mammals head (migrate) for volcanic
grasslands. Soils high in phosphorous and calcium give them the nutrients they
need to produce milk for their young. Often these grasslands have very limited water
in the dry season so animals then return to permanent water supplies. This
results in massive migrations of wildlife. In southern Africa, the older less
nutritious soils tend to produce palatable grasses in the growing season, so
animals disperse to these areas only to return to floodplains in the
dry season, again for water but also for the nutritious grasses found in the
flood plains- often described as sweet grasses. I find this distinction between sweet and sour veld quite hard to make in East Africa but it does happen to an extent
in some parts of Tarangire. With dispersions and migrations happening in the
same place, it’s a great place to study savannah ecology.

The Tarangire ecosystem encompasses the Maasai steppe, which
represents an ecological transition zone between Somali-Maasai
arid habitat and the more typical Acacia savannas. It is so productive in
insects during the wet season that even Northern Wheaters from Alaska fly here
in their winter to feed on insects. It is a fantastic place to fatten up for
their flight back home. The Maasai steepe is virtually unprotected except for
some small initiatives that are successfully working to protect pastoralists
and hunter-gatherers’ rights while maintaining these important calving and
feeding grounds. It’s a great example to use when discussing human-wildlife
conflict and land conversion.

Simulated accidents to give real-life scenarios.

Jo Anderson on Behavioral Ecology... or Jo, were you teaching economics? I saw cost-benefit analysis somewhere in your notes.

Contemporary Conservation Issues in Tanzania (and the role of the individual in making a difference).

Gina Kirkpatrick brings light boxes and prisms to understand light and the foundations of understanding color.

These
brilliant blues found in feathers are NOT the result of pigments but
the result of a phenomena called Tyndall scattering. The feather should
actually be brown because of the melanin in it, but air pockets in the
outer layers of keratin refract shorter wavelengths of light- i.e. the
blues.

Talking
about melanin- if you have deficiencies you turn out a bit whiter than
the rest. Extremes are albinism, but less extremes are referred to
leucism.

A
crepuscular owlet. This little fellow has false eyes on the back of his
head that might confuse birds that mob him to thinking that he's
watching them. Little brother is always watching you.

Great photo by Pietro Luraschi. The tip of an extraordinary organ.

Fungi- a Kingdom more closely related to Animals than Plant, yet a major player in the role of decomposition and completing the nutrient cycle.

Precocial is the opposite of altricial. These are not discrete but a continuum. Animals born more able to help themselves are more precocial than animals born that need parental care. One could also learn what nidicole or nidifuge is... A nidifuge leaves its nest when it is born instead of staying for a while- more extreme precocial behavior.

When frogging beware of frog predators... this Black-necked Spitting Cobra would much rather display than expend the energy on spitting venom or biting. Read more on snakes.

The Commelinas- not just a pretty flower we used to pick to feed our rabbits. Read more.

What bird is that? After 4 weeks our list was 175 species strong.

Identifying tracks.

An Ant-lion. These amazing insects spend months to a couple years in a nymph stage digging little conical traps in the sand to catch ants.

Practicing using the Key to 100 Trees of Tarangire National Park.

Yes we also watched large mammals.

A guide explains the down feathers that Sunbirds have chosen to line their nest.

Observation followed by a lesson.

First we identify using the key in Zimmerman's Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania. Then we put the Identification in Context- we discuss behavior. Next we explore the role in the environment.

It is a Slender-tailed Nightjar.

Nightjars are nocturnal insect hunters. Looks like a small bill? Open wide (see picture below

A big mouth is like a big net- the easier to scoop you out of the sky. Hairs on the side of the mouth are also very sensitive and help it to aim its mouth.

The Hairy Rock-fig (Ficus glumosa) gets a hold.

Elephants push down trees to get at the leaves. This is a Desert Date Tree (Balanites aegyptiaca)

This tree normally has green thorns up to 3 inches long... but why waste energy on producing defense when your already out of giraffe-browse way? Read more.

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by Nicol Ragland Photography

Identity

I am a guide and guide trainer working in East Africa. I love adventure and the solitude and peace that comes from being in the wilderness. It has led me on a search to learn as much as I can about the larger forces and concepts, as well as little intricacies and beauties in nature. I am a strong believer in conservation that is sustainable and that recognizes indigenous and other people's rights.